


Tulips, Bees, and Pronouns: A Nonbinary Cyberspace Erotica

by cbrachyrhynchos



Category: Original Work
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Neopronouns, Nonbinary Character, Other, cyberspace, speech control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 13:29:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13077867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cbrachyrhynchos/pseuds/cbrachyrhynchos
Summary: Kam finds a brief escape from the pressures of dealing with gendered language through cyberspace. Reasonably explicit erotica.





	Tulips, Bees, and Pronouns: A Nonbinary Cyberspace Erotica

"What is this?" Claudio asked.

Kam knew what "this" was, had been preparing mentally for how to explain "this" to eir editor since translating the news release from a Solan news agency.

"Sir, Cognitive Persistence of Objects Outside of Vision is an AI. 'Xe' is the preferred term of address for digital citizens." And "e" or "they" were preferred forms of address for many organics, at least within cultures that recognized more than two genders.

"Yes, but is Persistence masculine or feminine?"

"I felt a loanword would be appropriate here."

"Brother," Claudio said. "I know the rest of the galaxy doesn't share our views on the inherent polarity of the universe, including you. But you're asking our readers to not only accept that an AI was elected to parliament, but that he exists outside of the polarity? If we print this, the sponsors will object."

"Then I think, the default masculine pronoun would cause less dissonance. We're the masculine-language publication after all."

"Thank you, brother." Claudio said. "I recognize it must be hard..."

"Excuse me, sir. If I get to work I can have the new copy ready and sent to our sister publication before the end of the day."

Kam tried not to seethe. The Ghartim were not mean about these cultural differences, they just struggled understanding a cosmologies not built around male and female forces in a cosmic dance. Kam opened a chat window to eir counterpart at the sister publication. Ghartim culture duplicated everything with variations for men and women: two neighborhoods, two schools, two religions, and two languages, which of course, required two network news feeds.

"Claudio insisted on giving Minister Persistence the default masculine gender."

"I see," Olna wrote on the feed. "I suspect we'll do the same."

"I'll have a new draft to you by the end of the shift."

Revising Minister Persistence's gender required double-checking all of verb and noun forms as well. Kam had to admit that the revised text read easier in idiomatic Ghartim, but the grammar constructions would come off as a pointed insult in Solan. Understanding these differences were why Kam took this internship as a news translator and consultant, but Kam balanced on the edge of burnout after nearly a year of this.

Kam sent the translated story to Olna and logged out of work. E left the office, waving goodbye to the men who surrounded eir with warm pastel clothing, ankle-length skirts and flowing embroidered jackets. Many men gathered young children from the creche on the first floor. Kam heard and said "brother" from peers dozens of times on his way out the door. On the street, friends embraced and lovers kissed. At the transit stop, men worked decorative embroidery while waiting. The Ghartim accepted that manhood and womanhood could be whatever a person wanted it to be, as long as it was still manhood and womanhood.

As a foreign _per,_ Kam was safe from violence here (unlike other planets, and other cultures outside of Parliamentary Space). Ghartim mentally classified Kam into class man and treated Kam with the same friendly affability they treated everyone else. And yet, fashion was fashion and norms were norms. The advertising and mass media projected on the transit platform showed ideals, and the mixed-gender groups of teens rebelling against gender segregation occupied their own circles on the fringes of the crowd.

Kam's apartment was two rooms and a bath in a men's residential block. E decorated eir home with a mix of local art and printed work from home. Kam pulled a light dinner of leftovers from the kitchen and tried to relax from the day. Jumping into cyberspace on an empty stomach sounded like a bad idea to Kam. After cleaning up, Kam showered to further clear eir head, then went into the bedrooom where the rig waited.

Kam pressed the induction interface to a patch of skin at the back of eir neck under the hairline. The probes threaded their way into Kam's dermis, and started the boot sequence for the wetware threaded through Kam's brain. The interface went through the configuration sequence, adjusting to any variances over the last week. The visual interface came in first, slowly raising the lights, followed by audio with a gentle click and simple looped sound. Taste and smell came next, and then the complex alignment to Kam's sensory homunculus to make certain that fingers felt like fingers and toes felt like toes. A filter layer came next to adapt the sensory homunculus to Kam's idealized sense of body. Finally, with all the bits and bobs and parts linked to Kam's avatar, the motor homunculus came online allowing for eir to move through the virtual world. A gate materialized in front of Kam, opening access to a private garden.

Kam stepped out of the gate into the garden with fully realized textures, shadows, and smells. With a wave, e summoned a mirror window to check eir avatar. Although the system processed fractal textures and splines to the level of individual skin cells, Kam preferred a comfortable abstraction that steered well away from the uncanny valley. The skin texture roiled clouds of green jadeite and pale nephrite, reflecting the emotional tension of the body jacked in at the apartment. E considered turning down the emotional visibility algorithm, but didn't. E picked a familiar and comfortable outfit purchased from a modder's catalog last week, an ankle-length checkered skirt, matching shirt, and a short jacket. Kam spent hours obsessing over the design of the avatar months ago when a friend introduced em to this system. Aside from the skin, it could pass for Kam's sister or a younger brother. An algorithm narrowed the shoulders slightly, softened the face, adjusted the pelvis, and filled the breasts to a statistical gender-neutral ideal. Kam preferred a little bit more weight to match the self-image, asymmetry modeled on eir own face, and more markers of age than was fashionable. It wasn't ideal, but realism felt uncomfortable and idealism left Kam feeling disconnected from the virtual presence.

Kam closed the mirror, opened another window, and sent an invite to Ash. Then e closed both windows and sat down on a bench. Bees worked their way among the flowers. Something always flowered here, but Kam didn't recognize the species of red and pink, thickly petaled, bell-shaped flowers that filled the flowerbed. A bee worked into one of the closer flowers, and came out wearing pantaloons of pollen. Wind chimes stirred, and Ash arrived through the portal. Xe took a seat next to Kam, smoothing out loose, flowing silk pants with hands of polished, fine-grained hardwood.

"I read," Ash said. Ash spoke Neospivak in this simulation, a pidgin lacking gender inflection or conjugation. "Or rather, the databases say that species of bee lives in societies consisting of thousand of females."

"They're bee-gendered." Kam winced at the forcefulness of that utterance.

"You're upset."

Kam didn't answer. Ash could read Kam's upset direct from the stream.

"Do you want to talk?"

"No, words are the problem."

Ash put an arm around Kam's shoulders, and pulled em close. "There, there" Ash said, a meaningless idiom of comfort.

"This contract, I'm living in a gender-segregated culture. I'm immersed in Ghartim Men's Language and need to read and hear Ghartia Women's Language. Everything in those languages is male or female. There's no vocabulary for this, for me, for you. Solan has barely enough. I don't speak Neospivak fluently when I'm thinking in Ghartim. I thought I could handle it, I trained for this. But drives me crazy and you've heard this all before."

"I'll listen to it thousand times. It's an advantage of being digital rather than organic. It bugs a lot of people from this planet as well. They have the highest emigration rate in the sector, a third of it to Beta with liberal gender laws."

"That helps, a bit."

They sat together for a moment, watching the animation of the flowers in the breeze.

"What do you need, Kam?"

"To be this. To be with you. And to not be called 'sir' or 'brother' for a few hours."

"Give me level 2 diagnostic privileges for this session."

"Why?"

"If words are a problem, I'm going to shut down your vocal system. The diagnostic privileges allow me to better monitor your emotional state. If you want to manually stop, tap the tip of your ring finger with your thumb three times."

Kam stared at the path under eir feet, then e opened up a window and passed one-time permissions to Ash.

"Done," Ash said. "Say 'Hello world.'"

Kam opened eir mouth, but no words came out.

Ash stood up, took Kam by the hands, and pulled eim to a standing position. Soft music played on cue. Ash guided Kam into a partnered dance, a simple one, just a shared shifting of weight from one foot to the other. Kam rested eir head onto Ash's shoulder, and enjoyed the moment. The first song ended and the second one began, then a third.

A turn of a head, and Ash's lips brushed Kam's neck. Kam, in turn raised hands to tangle in Ash's hair, lips to explore Ash's face. With closed eyes, the illusion of wood grain and jade fell away to warm skin and soft hairs, lips flexible and firm, a tongue touching here and then. Direction given by an insistent nose told Kam to let eir head fall back into a waiting hand, to open eir throat to Ash's gentle teeth and flicking tongue. Kam sighed, air hissing through the back of eir throat.

"Mmmm," Ash said. "I had no idea you were holding back that much. The way your senses are lighting up, you're beautiful. Look at me, there. I think we need a bed, nod if you agree."

Kam nodded. There was a shimmer as the space changed.

"Let's undress each other." Ash mirrored Kam's actions. The jackets were nudged off of shoulders, revealing skin to be kissed. Shirt buttons slipped open under the influence of trembling fingers. Kam pulled Ash back to the bed and sat down on the edge. E buried eir face into soft breasts, ticklish ribs, and sensitive nipples.

Kam's fingers fumbled again over the buttons that held Ash's pants closed. They slid down over hips, and Ash gracefully managed to stay upright as Kam stroked xir phallus.

"Is it ok?" Ash asked. "I can change avatars."

Kam pulled Ash closer, and leaned over to kiss the tip. It was just the right size to suck comfortably. Ash stroked Kam's cheeks and neck. letting Kam work at eir own pace. Ash moaned with shuddering breaths.

"I want to watch you come," Ash said. Gentle hands pulled Kam up. "I want to make out with you and watch you come." Kam looked into Ash's eyes and nodded, then slid back onto the bed followed by Ash. Ash laid down on top of Kam. Their lips found each other, and they stayed that way for long minutes, kissing with skin against skin.

Kam hooked one leg around Ash's and ground eir sensitive pubis against Ash's thigh. Eir fingers clinched in Ash's hair. Eir breath panted hot in Ash's ear. Lips, then teeth pulling on Ash's earlobe, begging without words.

"Do you want for me to stroke you?" Ash said. Kam nodded and mouthed "Please." Ash rolled over to the side, and placed one arm under Kam's head. The other hand drifted across Kam's breasts and ribs.

"Shhhh," Ash said. "Take a step back, breathe." Ash slid xyr hand between Kam's legs and stroked the tender skin. Xe smiled as the virtual model changed to match Kam's fluid sense of erotic self. A modest phallus rose from sensitive folds. Ash explored Kam, finding which spots responded to the right kinds of pressure, and which spots needed to be brushed and left alone for seconds.

Kam reached down to put a hand over Ash's. Chaotic exploration settled to a rhythm and a tempo. Kam reached up with one hand to grip the headboard. Eir skin texture deepened across cheeks, neck, and chest as Ash found the right cadence. Ash's other hand sifted through Kam's hair, and then gripped and pulled it. Ash's mouth found Kam's nearest nipple, and just at the moment when strained and paused inhalation was about to be released, Ash gave Kam a light bite.

Kam bent forward and into Ash as e fell through climax. Eir pounding heart was quiet compared to the pulses shaking eir body from pelvis through thighs and chest. Eir breaths shouted out silently against Ash's chest. Ash's hand between Kam's legs stilled, keeping pressure through the climax, releasing just before pleasure became irritation. Slowly, Kam stilled.

Ash tapped Kam on the forehead, "I've given you your voice back."

Kam murmured into Ash's shoulder, and gave a soft giggle.

"You're welcome."

Moments later, Kam rolled onto eir back.

"Post-sex melancholy."

"Yep."

"Will you be ok?"

"Yes, I'm good. Better than when I logged in. I'm going to hit my timeout soon."

"You'll be ok, only another 60 days."

Kam sighed, and stretched on the bed. E was ok. It wasn't ideal, but it was mostly bearable.

"Can I ask a favor before you go?"

"Yes, of course."

"There's a group that meets here, in this system. They're thinking of emigrating to your world. Would you like to meet them?"

"Yes," Kam said after a moment. "I think I would."


End file.
